Federal claim: Beatings common at jail

Updated 8:00 am, Tuesday, February 14, 2012

TROY — A man who was beaten by a correction officer at the Rensselaer County jail three years ago has filed a federal lawsuit against the county alleging the physical assault followed years of unchecked civil rights violations at the facility, including sexual assaults, beatings and unlawful strip searches.

The lawsuit was filed last month by Michael Ward, a Rensselaer County resident who was assaulted by a county jail officer, Keith R. Hancock Jr., in January 2009. Hancock was later fired. He was convicted last March on federal criminal charges of violating Ward's civil rights and lying about the incident to an FBI agent. A federal judge sentenced Hancock to home confinement and probation.

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Federal prosecutors said Hancock donned black gloves and punched Ward repeatedly in the head and face after Ward had been restrained by more than a half dozen correction officers. Ward's wrists were handcuffed behind his back at the time he was being punched. He was serving a sentence for convictions on misdemeanor charges of criminal contempt and trespassing related to a domestic incident.

Ward's attorney, Elmer Robert Keach III of Amsterdam, filed a federal complaint Jan.3 outlining numerous prior incidents at the jail in which inmates civil rights were violated. The incidents cited included a 1997 rape of a 16-year-old female inmate by a 53-year-old correction officer, who was later convicted.

"Rensselaer County has done nothing to change the training and supervision regimen at the Rensselaer County Correctional Facility, nor has it made any changes to the operation of the facility," states the complaint filed by Keach.

In an interview Monday, he said Ward's case is similar to that of Daniel McDonald, an inmate who filed a civil rights claim against the jail in 2003 after his jaw was broken during a 10-minute beating he said took place at the hands of two correction officers.

"In the past, I believe, the only time Rensselaer County paid attention to these types of issues is when someone was prosecuted," Keach said Monday. "Other than that a blind-eye is turned."

The federal complaint filed by Keach, on Ward's behalf, says an FBI investigation revealed a routine practice at the jail in which correction officers have beaten inmates.

The problem was so bad, the complaint states, that a physician on contract with the jail had once filed a complaint with the county about a high number of jaw injuries sustained by inmates.

Another case cited by Keach involved an inmate, Paul Marsh, who suffered a broken jaw that officers initially said was "self-inflicted" but later said was an "accident," according to the complaint.

"The testimony of one eyewitness to Paul Marsh's beating confirmed that Rensselaer County corrections officials were well aware of the systematic beating of inmates, and, in fact, joked about it," the federal complaint states. "Shortly after Paul Marsh's beating, a corrections officer was heard claiming 'every time we break a jaw around here it costs us $250,000.'"

Angrisano and Farrell were both suspended, but did not face criminal charges, as a result of their involvement in Hancock's assault of Ward, sheriff's officials said.

Last week, Angrisano was charged with criminal mischief in an unrelated incident for allegedly damaging a bulletin board at the jail, according to Sheriff Jack Mahar. Angrisano was issued an appearance ticket by sheriff's investigators who said he broke a glass-paneled bulletin board, which was locked, to remove financial documents that contained his name and had been posted by a labor union that represents correction officers. Angrisano was not suspended but an internal investigation is pending, Mahar said.

Keach has represented numerous former inmates in civil rights claims brought against the jail, including a class-action lawsuit that yielded a $2.7 million settlement after he challenged the jail's strip-search policies in a federal lawsuit that was settled in 2007.

Mahar, who became sheriff in 2004, said his administration does not condone or allow misconduct by jail employees.

"We don't tolerate it," Mahar said. "Again, you can never stop somebody's actions that's operating outside the scope of what they're supposed to do. ... All I can say is since my time there, nothing like that has occurred. It's that simple."